Improvement in hens  nests



Patented Sept. 25,1877.

' FIG- III I N V E N TO R N-FETERS, PNDTO-IIHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D D.

W TN ESSES UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS W. RUSSELL, OF UNION BRIDGE, MARYLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN HENS NESTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 195,655, dated September 25, 1877 application filed February 14,1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS W. RUssELL, of Union Bridge, Carroll county, Maryland, have invented certain Improvements in Hens Nests, of which the following is a specification and I do hereby declare that in the same is contained a full, clear, and exact description of my said invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention relates to a nest adapted to protect the setting hen from molestation by other hens-a practice on their part known to be common, and which causes much loss and annoyance to poultry'raisers.

To prevent this practice I cover the nest with .a lid hinged to the back thereof, and suspend from the lid an egg-tray,.placed in close relation to a platform also within the nest.

The hen, entering the nest from a stand or prop, alights at first -upon the platform, the hinged lid being at this time sufficiently elevated to allow the hen to enter the nest. The bird then alights upon the egg-tray, when the weight of the hen draws down the tray, and the nest-lid, being drawn down also, incloses the hen within the nest.

In order to counterbalance the weight of the egg-tray and eggs, I place above the nest-lid a weight board or lever having a fulcrum about centrally of the sides of the nest, a weight being placed upon the end of the board over the rear end of the nest.

The front ends of the lid and weight-board are linked or connected together, and when the hen leaves the egg-tray and steps upon the platform the weight upon the end of the board, which is just enough to outweigh the tray and eggs, causes the weight-board to fall and the nest-lid and egg-tray to rise, enlarging the mode of egress from the nest.

In the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the invention. Fig. is 2 a front view, and Fig. 3 a plan or top view, of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts of the invention in all the views.

A is the nest, having the platform a and stand or porch b. C is the nest-lid, hinged at c. The

egg-tray, represented by D, is suspended by the wiredfrom the lid 0. The weight-board E is pivoted upon apin, e, resting in standards 0, at the sides of the nest; and at the end of the weight-board is placed a weight, E, which, by reason of the connection f between the lid and weight-board, keeps, when the hen is not upon the nest, the egg-tray and lid in the position in which they are shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The nest is thus in a condition for the hen to enter. She first alights from the stand or prop b upon the platform a, and then upon the egg tray, when the hens weight overcomes that of the weight E, and the lid is shut down, the opening 9 at the front of the nest being large enough to afford her the necessary air and light.

As an additional precaution against the entrance of other hens or small animals while the occupant of the nest is upon the eggs, a rod, h, is pivoted at t, and attached by the link It to the nest-lid, which rod passes directly across the opening but which, as the nest-lid is elevated upon the hen leaving the egg-tray, is depressed, offering no obstruction to the egress of the hen from the nest.

The extra holes in the standards 6 are to admit of the different arrangement of the lid with regard -to the space required within the nest.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and wish to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. The nest A, comprising the platform a, porch b, lid 0, wire d, jointed rods h and k, and egg-tray D, as and for the purposes specifled.

2. The pivoted weight-board E and nest-lid U, joined by means of the link or connection f, as and for the purpose herein set forth.

3. The rod h, passing across the front opening of the nest, as specified, and pivoted at 'i, to the sides of the nest, combined with the link It and hinged lid 0, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I have hereto subscribed my name this 31st day of December, in the year of our Lord 1874.

THOMAS W. RUSSELL.

Witnesses:

JOHN Q. EPPLEY, WESLEY FORREST. 

